


My Taste in Music is Your Face

by Aberial_63



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Human AU, cop ollie, meet cute, record store owner sam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-21 04:57:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19996231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aberial_63/pseuds/Aberial_63
Summary: In search of the perfect birthday present, Ollie stumbles, quite literally, onto the start of something beautiful





	My Taste in Music is Your Face

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second bingo fic for Team Green. It fulfills the prompt "Meet-Cute"
> 
> Title is from "Tear in My Heart" by Twenty One Pilots

Ollie wished Luke would just tell her what he wanted for his birthday. It would be so much easier to shop for him if he could just send her a gift registry or something instead of making her guess. It was hard when he was so private and he rarely shared his hobbies with her. How was a girl supposed to know what to get her new partner-slash-soon-to-be-best-friend when he wouldn’t even say what he liked to do in his spare time?

Well, technically, Luke _had_ told Ollie that he “didn’t want a present” and that she “shouldn’t use the police database to find out her coworkers’ birthdays”. Ollie took that as code for him wanting his gift to be a surprise.

Her only lead so far was that Luke liked to listen to jazz when they were on stakeouts. It totally contributed to that whiskey on the rocks, old leather, hot dad vibe he had going on. He was a classy guy so of course he was into jazz. It made sense. 

That’s why Ollie was currently walking into a record store on her day off. She figured an old jazz record would be the perfect gift. It showed how observant Ollie was and that she cared about what Luke cared about. She hoped this would finally start to break the ice a little more between them so they could actually become the buddy cop ideal Ollie had always dreamed of achieving while she was at the academy.

A bell rang above her as she opened the door. She was hit with the smell of the incense burning on the unattended counter. Classic rock played softly in the background. The store felt cozy and Ollie felt even more confident in her decision to come here. This was totally Luke's scene and she was bound to find something he would like here. 

She meandered leisurely through the aisles for a few minutes. She kept getting distracted by the indie records from her favorite bands. Ollie had enough self control to pull herself away and focus on her partner's gift, but she couldn't help but stop every few feet to admire an album that reminded her of high school years or growing up in Massachusetts. Ollie wasn't a music aficionado by any means, but these songs were the background to her life for so long that it was impossible not to feel nostalgic. 

Eventually, Ollie found the jazz section. There were stacks of crates filled with records as well as a table with some of the more popular albums. Quickly, though, Ollie realized two problems with this situation. One, she knew nothing about jazz. She had no idea what was considered good or what any of the artists sounded like. Two, she had no idea who Luke liked. Ollie could easily pick up something he despised and the choice would haunt her until the end of their partnership. Ollie tried not to let that stress her out, but she'd never been very skilled at controlling her emotions. 

“Can I help you find something?” a voice asked from behind her. 

Ollie whipped around jumpily as she was startled from the beginning of her stress spiral. 

She was faced with the absolute most gorgeous human being she'd ever seen. Dark hair and dark eyes that made Ollie's poor lesbian heart swoon. A kind smile that threw off her balance and made her neck flush up to her ears. A deep voice that had her stomach doing flips. 

“Oh! Hi!” Ollie said.

“Hi,” the employee said. “Is there something specific you're looking for?”

Ollie pushed her hair behind her ear. 

“Well, um, not really. I don't know anything about jazz and I'm shopping for a friend.”

The woman smiled again. Jesus fucking christ, Ollie was going to have a heart attack. 

“I just so happen to know plenty about jazz. Want me to help you find one they'll probably like?”

“Yeah, that would be great,” Ollie exhaled in a rush. 

“Okay great. I'm Sam, by the way.”

“Ollie. My name's Ollie.”

“Nice to meet you, Ollie.”

Sam turned toward the table and let her long fingers drift over the covers almost reverently. Ollie could see that she clearly had a great love for music by the way her eyes softened as she looked at the albums. 

Suddenly, Sam reached for something behind Ollie. Her body was close to Ollie's for only a second, but Ollie went into a full gay panic and jumped back. There was no way Ollie would have been able to be so close to an actual goddess without exploding. 

Unfortunately, when she stepped back, her back slammed into the stack of crates. They toppled and the crash that ensued was enough to let Ollie know that she had pushed over every single crate. 

“Fuck,” Ollie swore.

Sam was stood open mouthed before her. She seemed absolutely speechless at Ollie's destruction. 

Ollie quickly turned around to see what she'd done. The crates were all on their sides and records were scattered on the floor. Ollie got on her knees and hastily inspected the closest albums for damage.

“I'm so sorry. I'll totally pay for the damages. It'll be what, two hundred bucks? Do you take credit cards?”

Sam laughed and kneeled next to Ollie. 

“Let’s see if any of them are broken before you start throwing money at me, yeah?”

The two women started to check each individual record for cracks or scratches. 

“Are you always so jittery?” Sam asked playfully as they sat there.

“No, not usually. I’m a cop. If I get jittery, someone could get hurt.”

“You don’t strike me as a cop,” Sam commented.

Ollie smiled.

“I get that a lot. I think it’s because of my bubbly personality and general emotional warmth.”

“I see,” Sam chuckled. “I have to ask then. What’s got you so riled up today that made you nearly break hundreds of dollars worth of my merchandise?”

Ollie had a bad habit of not thinking about what she was saying before she said it. It had gotten her into some messy situations in the past, but she never learned how to actually have a brain-to-mouth filter. Most of the time, she didn’t mind because she really didn’t see the harm in being honest, but she was sure she would curse herself for the rest of eternity when she said:

“You. You’re very pretty. I think my brain kind just short-circuited for a second and you leaned in and I didn’t know how to make sure I didn’t combust. So I just stepped away and now here we are.”

“You think I’m pretty?” Sam asked.

Ollie’s mind finally caught up to the words that had just propelled themselves from her throat. She felt her cheeks get hot and embarrassment coiled around her neck.

“God, I’m sorry. That was so forward of me. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No, I’m glad you did. Having a beautiful woman call you pretty is always a mood booster at the end of a long week.”

She winked at Ollie as she slid the last of the records back into the crates. Miraculously, they were all in one piece and Ollie thanked all the gods above that she hadn’t robbed Sam of any precious stock. 

That’s not what Ollie was thinking about though. Sam had called her beautiful. Sam, the living embodiment of physical perfection, thought Ollie, the klutzy detective who never knew when to shut up, was beautiful. It felt like something out of a fairytale. This had to be some sleep deprivation induced dream because she’d never ever had such a crazy, unrealistic fantasy before in her life. Ollie was rarely talked about that way. Most people tended to see Ollie as a sum of her personality traits: nosey, annoying, and maybe smart if she’d done something right for once. No one had ever looked at her and thought she was worth looking at again. No one except Sam had ever called her beautiful.

For once in her life, Ollie was speechless.

They got to their feet and dusted off their jeans.

“You are one lucky lady, Ollie. That could have been quite the fortune to replace.”

Ollie hummed in agreement as she shoved her hands into her pockets. She was afraid if she said any more than necessary her internal screaming might come out instead of actual sentences.

The women stood quietly until Ollie couldn’t take it anymore.

“I think I’m going to head out before I get myself into anymore trouble. Who knows how long my luck will stick around.”

She made a beeline for the door. 

“Ollie, wait!” Sam called.

Against her better judgement, Ollie turned around.

Sam pulled out a small notepad from her pocket and a pencil. She scribbled something on the paper before handing it to Ollie. 

“This my number if you ever want to repay me for the emotional distress you caused by nearly destroying my store,” Sam teased. Her smile was kind as she spoke. “And just so you know, I think your luck will stick around for awhile so please don’t be afraid to ask me out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with my answer.”

“Okay,” Ollie replied and she let her own grin form on her lips. “Maybe I will.”

Ollie couldn’t wipe it from her face as she finally exited the shop. She felt like she was walking on air. What had started as a disaster had ended as something hopeful. Ollie could barely believe it, but maybe she had finally found someone who could see her as she was and actually liked that person. It was too soon for Ollie to know anything for certain (they might not even make it to a second date), but meeting Sam felt like a step in the right direction. Ollie could use a step like that for once.

It wasn’t until Ollie arrived back at her apartment an hour later that she realized she had never bought a gift for Luke. She supposed that meant she would have to go back to the record shop sooner than anticipated. Oh well.


End file.
